With over one million employees, Mega Railway Network is one of the largest recruiters in the world. As the result of criminal activity in one of its largest rail yards, a worker lost his life in the line of duty. The circumstances of the incident have led to a high-stakes strike action by workers at one of its busiest rail depots. As the divisional operations manager, chief transportation manager or the head of locomotive engineers (drivers), you must reconcile differences between management and staff or risk stalling the hundreds of freight and passenger trains that pass through each day. As a worker, you need safety and other concerns addressed.

Learning Objective:

This case is suitable for use in courses in organizational behaviour or communications, or in an MBA or post-graduate course on negotiation skills. The case uses both qualitative and quantitative bases to demonstrate how negotiation theory relates to a practical instance of negotiation. Learning is delivered using qualitative theoretical bases as enacted and depicted through the medium of a role play simulation coupled with quantitative data from scoring sheets. Students should learn to: